[Hemorrhage from esophageal varices]

Bleeding from varicose veins (VV) of the esophagus remains a serious therapeutic problem to date. From experience in operative treatment of 164 and nonoperative management of 33 patients the authors discuss the modern trends of the treatment of this disease. New drugs are applied to reduce pressure in the portal system, on the one hand, and new operative techniques are studied, on the other. Endoscopic sclerotherapy of VV is resorted to more and more extensively. The authors applied it in 48 patients with a satisfactory effect. The authors claim that planned surgical treatment produces the best effect.